Kana and Its Sisters

A sentence like ⁨الْجَوّ جَمِيل⁩ (the weather is nice) has no verb. To put it in the past, Arabic adds the verb ⁨كَانَ⁩ (was), and the predicate then takes the accusative ending: ⁨كَانَ الْجَوُّ جَمِيلًا⁩ (the weather was nice).

Kana Puts a Sentence in the Past

A nominal sentence has a subject and a predicate. Put ⁨كَانَ⁩ in front and the sentence moves to the past. The subject stays in the nominative (⁨ـُ⁩), but the predicate changes to the accusative: ⁨ـًا⁩ on an indefinite word. This lesson shows these endings because here they are the point. When the predicate is a place word or a phrase like ⁨فِي الْبَيْت⁩, nothing changes.

Feminine and Plural Subjects

⁨كَانَ⁩ agrees with its subject, so a feminine subject needs ⁨كَانَتْ⁩. Before ⁨ال⁩ the sukūn becomes i: ⁨كَانَتِ الْغُرْفَةُ⁩. The predicate agrees too. A word in ⁨ة⁩ takes ⁨ـَةً⁩, and a plural in ⁨ـُونَ⁩ changes to ⁨ـِينَ⁩.

The Full Conjugation of Kana

⁨كَانَ⁩ is a hollow verb: its long ā shrinks to a short u when the ending starts with a consonant, so you get ⁨كُنْتُ⁩ and ⁨كُنَّا⁩. The present tense has a long ū: ⁨يَكُون⁩.

The Sisters of Kana

A few other verbs work exactly like ⁨كَانَ⁩: the subject stays in the nominative and the predicate takes the accusative. Grammar books call them the sisters of ⁨كَانَ⁩. These four are the most common.

Ma Zala and Laysa

⁨مَا زَالَ⁩ always keeps its ⁨مَا⁩. It conjugates like a past verb, and its ā shrinks to i: ⁨مَا زِلْتُ⁩ (I am still). ⁨لَيْسَ⁩ means "is not" and is used only for the present. It also looks like a past verb: ⁨لَسْتُ⁩, ⁨لَسْتَ⁩, ⁨لَسْتِ⁩, ⁨لَيْسَ⁩, ⁨لَيْسَتْ⁩, ⁨لَسْنَا⁩, ⁨لَيْسُوا⁩. For "was not" use ⁨لَمْ يَكُنْ⁩: ⁨لَمْ يَكُنِ الْجَوُّ بَارِدًا⁩.

Kana in the Future

For the future, put ⁨سَـ⁩ on the present form ⁨يَكُون⁩. The predicate is still in the accusative: ⁨سَيَكُونُ الْجَوُّ جَمِيلًا غَدًا⁩ (the weather will be nice tomorrow). It conjugates like any present verb: ⁨سَأَكُون⁩, ⁨سَتَكُون⁩, ⁨سَنَكُون⁩.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving the predicate in the nominative: say ⁨كَانَ الْجَوُّ جَمِيلًا⁩, not ⁨كَانَ الْجَوُّ جَمِيلٌ⁩.
• Putting the subject in the accusative: say ⁨كَانَ الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرًا⁩, not ⁨كَانَ الْبَيْتَ كَبِيرًا⁩.
• Using the masculine with a feminine subject: say ⁨كَانَتِ الْغُرْفَةُ نَظِيفَةً⁩, not ⁨كَانَ الْغُرْفَةُ نَظِيفَةً⁩.
• Keeping the long ā: say ⁨كُنْتُ⁩, not ⁨كَانْتُ⁩.
• Using ⁨لَيْسَ⁩ for the past: say ⁨لَمْ يَكُنِ الْجَوُّ بَارِدًا⁩, not ⁨لَيْسَ الْجَوُّ بَارِدًا أَمْس⁩.

Example Sentences